Coach Mike Tomlin says there’s no sense “pouting” over the Steelers’ four-game losing streak, especially with an AFC playoff game at Baltimore coming up on Saturday night. Tomlin held his weekly news conference yesterday, and said “It’s not about dreaming about the next month, it’s not about pouting about the last month.” Rather, the coach is focused on the Ravens and says his team had better be, too.
The Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2016, but Tomlin says that’s baggage that he’s carrying, not his team.
The Steelers beat the Ravens 18-16 in November and lost to them, 34-17 last month. Tomlin says when you’re that familiar with a team, strategy becomes an even more important factor.
Rookie guard Mason McCormick has a broken hand, suffered in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Bengals. Tomlin said he will be fitted with a cast or a brace and they will have to determine if he can play this week. The coach says cornerback Donte Jackson is feeling good but they will monitor his bad back this week to check his status.
The Ravens’ top receiver, Zay Flowers, has a knee injury and his status for Saturday night is a question mark. Baltimore also had a number of players suffering from illness in the last week.
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is reportedly a candidate for the vacant head coaching jobs with the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears. Smith is the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
After Jacksonville fired coach Doug Pederson yesterday, there are NFL head coaching vacancies with the Jaguars, Jets, Patriots, Bears, and Saints.
